‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ reigns at the box office with $49 million debut

Warner Bros. Pictures(NEW YORK) — Warner Brothers’ Godzilla: King of the Monsters roared it’s way to the top of the box office this weekend, just not as mightily as expected. The third installment in Legendary’s MonsterVerse, following 2014’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, delivered an estimated $49 million, slightly below the $50-$55 million the studio had predicted, and well below Godzilla‘s $93.2 million and Kong: Skull Island‘s $61 million.

Overseas, the sci-fi flick — whose human cast includes Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford and Sally Hawkins — earned an estimated $130 million, bringing its worldwide total to $179 million.

Disney’s Aladdin dropped to number two in its second week of release, earning an estimated $42.3 million. That pushes the live-action adaptation of the 1992 animated classic to $185 million here in the states and $261 million globally.

In third place was the second of this weekend’s new releases, the Elton John musical biopic, Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton. The film’s estimated $25 million haul was well above $18-$20 million Paramount Pictures was anticipating.

The third of this weekends three new releases, the thriller Ma, starring Octavia Spencer, delivered an estimated $18.2 million.

John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum rounded out the top five, collecting an estimated $11.1 million stateside in its third week of release. The film’s worldwide earnings now stand at $221 million.

Here are the top 10 movies from Friday through Sunday, with estimated domestic box office earnings:

1. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, $49 million
2. Aladdin, $42.3 million
3. Rocketman, $25 million
4. Ma, $18.2 million
5. John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, $11.1 million
6. Avengers: Endgame, $7.8 million
7. Pokemon Detective Pikachu, $6.665 million
8. Booksmart, $3.3 million
9. Brightburn, $2.3 million
10. The Hustle, $1.3 million

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